Improved safety-cleat for releasing the sails of vessels



UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEICE.

JOI-IN W. SHARRETyOF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVED SAFFTY-CLEAT FOR RELEASING THE SAiLS 0F VESSELS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4l,866, dated March 8, 1864.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN W. SHAREET, of Portsmouth, county of Norfolk, State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful Releasing Device for the Sails of Vessels; and I do hereby declare that the following` is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l shows the application of my inven tion to the mast of a vessel. Figs. 2 and 3 show in enlarged views the construction of the releasing device. Fig. 4 shows the operation of the invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the gures.

The object of my invention is to prevent sail-vessels from capsizing in a squall of wind by attaching the halyards or other tackle used to support and hold the sails to the wind to a device which will, under ordinary occasions or during an ordinary gale ot' wind, serve every purpose of a cleat, and which will automatically release the sails at the moment of danger and cause the vessel to right itself, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe its construction and operation.

In the use of ordinary ships cleats the halyards are frequently attached to them in.

suchumanner that it is sometimes quite difficult to detach them in a violent gale of wind at the desired moment, even if the men are ready and obey -their commands, and it is most frequentl y the case that vessels are capsized from this cause. It is therefore desirable to obtain a device which will operate automatically upon and release the sails when the vessel careens too much, and by causing the sails to spill the wind restore the vessel to its upright position, at the same time to so construct such a device that it will be simple and certain in its operation. To this end I secure, in any suitable manner, a peculiarly-constructed cleat to the mast of a vessel, and suspend beneath this cleat a loaded 'vibrating bar, so applied t0 the cleat that it will release the halyards therefrom at a certain point in its vibration.

In the accompanying drawings, A repre sents a cleat, which consists lofV a tongue, a,

formed on or secured to the block b. This block b is rigidly secured to the segment-board B, which latter is applied firmly to the forward or back part of the mast, as shown in Fig. 1. Below the tongue a a slot is formed in the block b, for the reception of a tongue, a', corresponding in some particulars to tongue a. This latter tongue a is pivoted at c to the block b, and projecting down fromthe lower portion of its neck is a catch, d, which lies closely against the surface of the board B, as shown in Fig. 3, when the cleat is in the condition to receive and retain the halyards. On each side of this extended latch portion d is a ridge or stay, e, which keeps this portion in place and prevents it from being broken by any lateral thrust. Below this cleat, and secured to the board B, is a segmental box or housing, (l, within which is suspended a loade'd pendulum, D, which vibrates about the iixed pivot e. The upper end, s, of the pendulum D extends above the pivot e', and overreaches the extension-catch d of the pivoted portion` of the cleat, andthus forms a holdfast for this portion of the cleat, as clearly represented in Figs. 2 and 3.

The lower end of the pendulum D is heavily loaded, so that it will preserve a vertical po.-` sition at all times-i2. e., so that the lateral motions of the vessel will not move it out of its vertical position. This is not the case with the cleat, for it will be seen that thiscleat, being secured rigidly to the mast of the vessel, will vibrate with it, while the pendulum is relatively stationary. In the application of my invention toa vessel it must be observed that in order to obtain success the pendulum should be arranged to work in a plane transl verse to the length of the vessel. It may be placed either in front of the mast or in its rear, or secured to any other object situated directly over the keel and at right angles to it.

The ofiice of the pendulum Dis to keep the lower pivoted portion of the cleat in the position represented in Figs. l, 2, and 3 in-black lines, as long as the safety of the vessel will admit, and when the vessel careens to such a degree as to render it liable tov capsize this pendulum will release the pivoted portion ot' the cleat and detach the halyards. The point at which the releasing shall take place can easily be regulated by increasing or diminish- It will be seen that as long as the upper end of the pendulum remains over any portion of the catch d the cleat will rmly and safely hold the rope or ropes attached to it, and that inst as soon as the upper end ofthe pendulum leaves the catch the latter will be drawn up to the position indicated in red, Fig. 3, and allow the'ropes to slip off.

Should it be found in practice that the strain upon the pivoted portion of the cleat would cause the pendulum to work hard, a small friction-roller may be interposed to relieve the pendulum and prevent a rapid Wearing away of the catch in consequence of the constant movements of the parts upon each other.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A cleat constructed with a pivoted tongue, a', substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The extended latch d, formed on the pivotcd tongue a of a cleat, in combination with a pendulum, I), or its equivalent, substantially as described.

3. Releasing the sails of vessels by means of an automatic device, constructed and operating substantially as described.

fitness my hand in the matter of my application for a patent for improvement in sailvessels.

JOHN XV. SHARRET.

Witnesses:

R. T. CAMPBELL, E. oI-IAFER. 

